Nerdy Kisses
by FizzyFennec
Summary: Your name is John Egbert. You're going out with the coolest person you know, and the two of you seem pretty happy. But, you had no idea you'd stumble on something as great as this. A young cat-like troll, with candy-corn coloured horns.
1. Chapter 1

You're packing up all your shit. But you must make sure you double-check that you've taken your most precious items. Cellphone, bus money, and your 'stay safe' cat plush. You take that thing everywhere. Throwing on your favorite Blue hoodie, you pick up your finally packed bag-pack, and walk out the door, making sure your nerdy glasses are straight.

Even though you're rushing, you make sure that your father sees you go.

Even though he prefers you out of the house, it's best he knows you're gone.

Even for a now 15 year old, it's still good to tell your parents where you're going.

After walking down the street, and getting on a 30-minute bus ride, you arrive at the street you've been waiting for. Standing there, foot against a building is your boyfriend, Dave Strider. Looking smooth as ever.

"Dave!"

Running up to him, opening your arms for a hug.

Dave Strider looks up, stands on two feet, and turns around.

"Hey, Egderp."

You throw your arms around him.

"Hey, calm down there, nerd."

He says, secretly hugging you back. You knew it; you could feel his hands on your back.

You're so happy to see him; you could've sworn you felt a tear.

"You ready to go?"

Dave wipes the hair off across his face off, and smiles.

"Let's get the party on the road."

He offers you one of his headphones, so you can listen to the same music, whilst you both walk. You obviously accept the offer. Silently, you grab his hand. Without saying anything, you smirk at his blushing.

After a while, you both get tired of walking, and decide to take a break, and before you know it, it begins to rain. Great, your hair is getting ruined.

All of a sudden, what happens sounds like a metal can hitting the concrete rings in your ears.

You turn around, quite angry. Who dare disrupt my date? You think.

"Hey! You can't just throw garbage at us!"

Looking toward the place that the can was thrown, you see a large rubbish dump. Instead of being angry, your face turns worried.

You see some kind of grey creature, whom seems to be facing off against two large cats.

It's the weirdest thing though; this thing's ears seem to be candy-corn colured. But then, upon further inspection, you see they seem to resemble horns more than ears, as you see it has a pair of small long ears. To go along with that, it seems to have a lion like tail. Apart from its appearance, it seems to act exactly like a cat.

Its cowering behind the large rubbish bin, and the two other cats seem to be cornering it.

Without thinking, you jump into action. You chase off the larger cats, which after seeing your presence scat. Thank god.

"Hey… are you alright?"

The thing seems to be more afraid, then before you came. You bend down to pick it up. Slowly, and carefully, you use your other hand to get out your Blue hoodie. After succeeding, you wrap the little creature in in.

It's still squirming, but not as much. But now it's digging its claws into your arm.

"Hey! Stop that."

Surprisingly, it stops. Holding the hoodie in one hand, you get out your cat plush.  
"Hey, here you go."

Handing the stuffed animal to the creature, it grabs it. Holding it close.

You can tell it's much calmer then before, and it has stopped squirming.

Running out of the rain, you get back to Dave.

"Hey, man. Look how cute it is."

Showing the small thing to Dave.

"Hey, it is pretty cute."

He softly pets the forehead of the thing.

"You got a name lil chick?"

Smirking, he pulls his hand back.

It opens its eyes, still grasping your stuffed cat.

"I'm… Nepeta."

Probably cutest name you've heard all day.

You both jump, at the sound of its voice.

"Nepeta? Did you just speak?"

The thing says nothing, only smiles warmly, and then digs its face into the hoodie once again.

"Aye, Egderp. It's getting late, if you want, you can stay the night."

You secretly jump inside.

"That'd be great!"

Keeping your voice lowered, making sure to not scare Nepeta.

"Lets catch the bus back now."

He nods, and you two head to the bus stop.


	2. Chapter 2

You finally arrive at his house, you text your dad just to say you won't be staying the night. Still holding the hoodie in your hands, with Nepeta cradled in your arms.

Putting her down on the floor, you hear small sounds out of her. Good, she's asleep. Still making sure she's okay; you turn your attention to Dave.

"So, Egbert. Bro won't be in tonight, so you won't have to worry about where to sleep."

Just then, a very perky Bro walks into the room. You giggle at the way he walks in.

"Hey there, Dave's gayest friend."

He gives you the largest grin you've ever seen from a 21-year-old man.

"Bro, get out of my room."

"Well, just letting you know, that I'm afraid there's no more beds in the house. You two boys will have to share."

For the first time, you see his face, the reddest it's ever been. Bro is laughing so hard, and you're trying to conceal a giggle as well.

"Hey… uh. Egderp. It's okay if you don't want to stay any more, man. I know, Bro is a pretty unpleasant man to stay with."

You smile, "Hey, it's alright."

Bro dances out of the room, and you're left with Dave.

That night, after you put on your sleeping clothes, you seem to think that there's an odd feeling of warmth in the room. You're sharing the bed with Dave. For some reason, you're way happier about sharing a bed then you've ever been.

But for some reason, you know he's feeling really awkward.

"Hey, Dave. Are you alright?" You shuffle over to him. Tying your hands around his waist, trying to pull him closer to you. You know the way he's feeling, since you can basically read him like a book.

He flinches, and then hesitates.

"I'm am really sorry, John. I do know you well, and all, but this is the first time I've ever shared my bed… with a dude."

You smile, for some unknown reason.

You playfully roll Dave over, so he's facing you now. He doesn't fight it, and instead seems to along with it all.

Still snuggling up to him, you press your head against his chest. Re-wrapping your arms around him.

"I love you, Dave."

His smile is awry, but it's definitely there. He sniffs, and then settles down. The only thing you hear from him after that, is:

"Nerd."

"Hey, why on earth are you still wearing these?"

You pull off his shades, unexpectedly he doesn't mind.

"Oh, I guess I forgot to take them off."

You put them on your bedside table, and turn back to Dave.

"You should take them off more often, you really do have beautiful eyes."

Frankly, you can't believe you're being so open tonight. Well, he is your boyfriend.

You're still facing him, you decide to call it a night and get some sleep. You begin to try to drift off.

"Hey, John."

You awaken from your daze.

"Huh?"

"I love you."

That completes it; you're feeling so warm-hearted right now, you could probably explode with happiness. Without thinking, you lean even closer. Your nose is now touching his. You go in for your first kiss.

He pulls away, after 3 seconds.  
"I'm tired, John. Goodnight."

Rolling out of your grasp, he tries to doze off as well.

Deciding to get some sleep of your own, you join him in dreamland.

After what seems like hours, you're woken up. You feel something odd between your legs. "DAVE! WHAT ARE YOU-" Peering down quickly, you see it's not actually Dave.

Looking over, just to check. You see he's still asleep, thank god. You've just had that tiny panic attack, and looking down, instead, what you see is a small, crying Nepeta.

Putting on your glasses, you pick Nepeta up. Unsurprisingly, she's as light as a kitten. You walk slowly to the bathroom, so you can see clearly, without waking up Dave.

After switching on the light, and closing the door behind you. You sit Nepeta down on the sink bench.

"What's wrong, little one?"

She's still crying, but she seems to have calmed down.

"There's something… in your room. It wants to get me!"

Her eyes are heavy with tears; her soft crying makes you smile.

You pick her up, holding her to your chest.

"Its alright, Nepeta. I've got you now."

She clutches the fabric around you chest, crying into it herself.

"Nepeta, it's alright. Nothing is there to get you, and if they do, I'll beat them up!"

You're trying to be as positive as you can, and you can see it's working.

"… What's your name?"

"John. My name is John Egbert."

She giggles, "That's a funny last name."

You smile as well, putting her back on the bench.

"Yeah, I know. Hey, that reminds me. Aren't you hungry?"

Nepeta looks a bit upset.

"Yeah… just a little."

"Hop up then."

You help her onto your back, as you quietly piggy backer her downstairs.

Right now, you really hope neither Bro, or Dave mind that you're pretty much stealing their food.

"What would you like, Nepeta? Got any requests?"

You place her down on the Kitchen bench.

"Milk!"

Well, you weren't surprised. She definitely was a cat at heart.

"Of course."

You pour her a cup of milk, which she drinks quite quickly.

"More!"

You roll your eyes,

"Greedy." You say aloud, pouring her another glass of milk.

"At my previous house, my owner wouldn't let eat anything but pet food, and that was only the stuff her dog didn't finish."

"Your old house? You mean… you ran away from it?"

She nodded, "Yeah, it was pretty bad."

You decide not to delve into it any deeper, just incase you hit a soft spot. Maybe another time you could ask her.

Taking the milk glass off her, you rinse it, and put it in the dishwasher.

"Hey, ready for bed yet?"

Nepeta's eyes grow large, again filled with fear.

"But… that thing may get me!"

You sigh, picking her up off the bench, and putting her on your back.

"Let's go back to bed, I'm sure Dave won't mind a 3rd visitor."


	3. Chapter 3

You wake up, early morning to the sound of Dave's obnoxiously loud breathing. You hit him on the shoulder. "Wake up." Then, you go check if Nepeta's okay.

Quietly, you call her. Dave doesn't look like he wants to wakeup any soon.

"Nep? Where are you?"

She made a little surprised peep noise, much like a young kitten would.

"Where are you?"

You look down, realizing she's clinging to your leg.

"Hey, stop that."

You pluck her off your leg, and put her gently on the bed.

"Alright, well. It's 9:00 am, so Dave should get up fairly soon. Then, we can discuss the plan."

She looks confused, and afraid at the same time.

"The... plan? What do you mean?"

"What's gonna happen to you, after today."

She's choking up her words.

"I'm… not going to be staying?"

"Hey, wait… Don't be like that. We don't know for sure!"

You take a brief pause, before discussing it again.

"We'll talk all about it, as soon as Dave wakes up."

Picking her up again, she doesn't struggle. Just acts dead.

"I'll be all aright, okay? It's an Egbert promise."

You don't even see a smile this time; she's just dead silent, it seems as if she is holding back her tears. It's pretty damn obvious she doesn't want you to see.

You feel extremely awefully, you just made this sweet little kitty cry. Deciding you want the morning to move faster, you jump on Dave to wake him up. When he finally says, "Dork. I was sleeping." And then gets up. He's got that cute little 'scruffy morning hair' look. It's driving you insane, you love it.

"Dork. Why'd you wake me up so early." Smiling, he hugs you a good morning. For some reason, Nepeta looks like she's plotting something. You're kind of worried, since she has the weirdest grin on her face.

Once Dave gets his shit in shape, he finally sees Nepeta on the bed.

"She's so cute…"

He goes to stroke her hair.

"Aw man, it'd be rad if we could keep her."

Nepeta looks like she's about to burst of happiness.

Dave looks really happy, and picks up Nepeta.

"Just like my old cat!"

You smile yourself, well. At least they're getting along.

"I'm just going to get something to drink, alright. I'll be right back."

You walk out of Dave's room, downstairs, to get a drink. You leave Dave and Nepeta alone, for a while. You wonder what they're talking about.

After a while, you walk back upstairs. Dave and Nepeta look like they've been waiting. They seemed to have neutral looks on their faces,

"John, we need to talk."

"About what?"

"About Nepeta."

"Sure."

"Nepeta told me about… some friends."

"Friends? What does that have to do with her."

"She says that she has friends of her own. That are almost exactly like her."

That last sentence made you think.

"What? Dave… I'm not understanding you. What do friends have to do with Nepeta?"

"What I'm trying to say, is that she's lost those friends. That's why she was in the street." He's trying to keep his voice down.

You're kind of understanding now. Still not quite there though.

"I'm still confused."

He gives you one of his strangest looks, you've ever seen. Before dragging you into the corner by the arm.

"Dave, ow! Can you ask next time?"

He scowls.

"Alright, fine. Listen up, Egbert. Nepeta has friends of her own, but something happened to them. She's alone now. I think it may have something to do with her previous owner. I'm not too sure. I was too afraid to ask. But anyway, if she goes to another owner, god knows what may happen to her!?"

You start thinking, your mind furiously trying to pick up the pieces.

"I understand, I really do. But what about school? Or your part time job? We're not going to have any time to be with her."

Dave looks at you weirdly. For the second time this morning.

"For gods sake, Egbert. You care more about school, than about this poor troll's life? Does it really matter? If you're that worried about school, she can come with me."

You feel horrible.

"So, are we keeping her?"

Dave smiles, letting go of your arm.

"Yes."

For some reason, you feel like you're making the right choice.

"What's wrong?"

You have a kind of, awkwardly blunt look on your face.

He does the most stupid thing. Kisses you.

"Dave…"

Your feelings get washed away again.

He smiles, and lets you walk back to Nepeta.

"YOU TWO ARE SO CUTE!"

She squeals it so loud, you've preferred to plug your ears.

"DO IT AGAIN, DO IT ALL AGAIN!"

You look confused.

"Nepeta... what are you talking about?"

"This." He goes for your face.

"Dave… stop!"

He sniggers.

"Problem, John?"

Nepeta starts making weird noises.

You go over to see if she's all all right.

"I ship it… so hard."


	4. Chapter 4

So, you're keeping this mysterious troll. You don't know long for, but Dave's convinced you to let her stay with a cool-kid kiss.

In the late afternoon, you decide you need to get home. Hurryingly, you give Dave a hug goodbye, and since you can't find Nepeta, you ask Dave to say goodbye for you. It's late, and you've got school tomorrow, and since you don't want to miss the bus, you don't bother checking if you have any. Besides, if you did, Dave could bring it to school for you.

On the way back, you stare out the window of the bus. Something inside you seems to be feeling missing, it's probably Dave.

You arrive home, and your dad barely even notices you walk through the door. Walking up the stairs to your room, you throw off your hoodie, and dump your heavy bag onto the floor. On your side-table is your laptop.

You open it and open all your need-to-be-opened tabs.

Sighing, and lying down on your bed, you check outside the window. It's dark. Well, it took you a while to get yourself back in motion.

You decide you're going to do some of your Homework, so you head to your bedroom desk to find it, accidently knocking over the bag you took to Dave's place.

You hear a small snuffling noise within your bag.

Oh shit.

Quickly, you unzip your bag. You see Nepeta inside. Looking awefully guilty.

"Nepeta! What the hell are you doing in here?! What were you thinking!? Why did you hide in my bag!?"

All these questions, followed with solutions, and muddled answers race around your head. Nepeta looks scolded, guilty, and upset at the same time.

"John! Are you alright!? "

Your dad is calling you from downstairs.

"Yeah, I'm fine! Sorry about that!"

You turn your attention back to Nepeta, lowering your voice.

"What are you doing here?"

"I really didn't mean anything bad… I just didn't want to leave you."

You feel your anger soften up, at the sound of her voice.

Kneeling down to her height, you take her out of your bag, and place her on your bed.

"Listen, Nepeta. I understand how you feel." You put your arm on her shoulder. "But what were you thinking? Dave said he'd look after you."

She looks uneasy, and upset.

"I'm sorry… I didn't mean to upset you; I just really didn't want you to go. I like Dave, and all. But I just… I don't want you to go."

You hug her, and she hugs you back.

"It's alright, okay? I'm sorry for being such a grumpy-ass."

Once again, she clings your shirt and cries into it.

After a while, you unnattach her.

"Nepeta, are you alright?"

She nods, wiping her eyes.

You give her a soft pet on the back.

"Yeah…"

"Hey, it's really dark. You should probably be getting to bed."

She nods, yawning.

You jump into bed, not worrying about what you're wearing.

"Hop in, then."

She hops into bed, and curls up. You tuck her in, and make sure she's sound asleep.

Walking outside, you see that your dad is asleep on the couch.

Silently, you walk to your dresser.

How on earth am I supposed to look after a troll.

You happen to wake up in the middle of the night. You haven't awoken Nepeta, she seems to be peacefully sleeping by your pillow.

She really is cute.

You pull out the smallest shirt you have. The last time you wore it, was about two years ago.

But it's no use; it's still way too big for Nepeta.

You toss it in the dryer, hoping it'll shrink.

Softly, you make your way down the stairs, and into the fridge.

"Milk, and fish."

What else do catlike trolls eat?

Asking yourself the question, you decide that Nepeta should be able to eat eggs as well.

You gather up all the things you'll think you need to feed her, and place them on the left-hand side of the fridge.

Checking your watch, you decide you need to get some sleep.

You put together your school lunch for tomorrow.

Climbing into bed, you mind Nepeta whom is sound asleep. Cuddling with your stay-safe cat plush.

"I sure as hope that Nepeta feels at home here…"

You pull up the blanket, and slowly drift off to sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

A loud meow wakes you.

"Wake up! Come on!"

You turn over, and see Nepeta is on top of you.

"Nepeta… what time is it?"

"Get up, hurry up!"

She jumps on you some more.

"Hurry!"

You roll out of bed, removing Nepeta from your chest.

"Please?"

"Yeah, I'm getting ready."

Checking your alarm, you make the assumption you went to bed way too late, since it's already 11am.

"What's up, Nepeta?"  
"I'm hungry…"

"Of course you are."

You comb your hair, and do the rest of your morning routine.

Afterward, you tour Nepeta downstairs. "This is the Kitchen."

She jumps onto the bench.

You get out the milk, and a fish slice.

"I want you to make sure that my dad doesn't see you."

You lay a little bit of each out for Nepeta. Who soon gobbles it down, much faster than you thought she would.

"Why not?"

She says, licking her teeth.

"You don't wanna know."

She nods, and doesn't question you any further.

"Feeling better?"

Happily, she nods.

"Thanks, John."

You piggyback her upstairs, and introduce her to your computer.

You turn on Skype, and check your messages.

Dave has been messaging you, asking after Nepeta.

Sighing, you reply to him.

"Nepeta. Can I ask you a couple of things?"

She nods, and then looks a tiny bit worried.

"If you want me to stop, you just say so alright."

She nods.

"Do you remember anything about your previous owner?"

"Yes… I've been trying very hard to forget about it, but I can't. I've forgotten the really bad bits, though."

This is the moment.

"I vaguely remember you saying something, about what you were fed back in your old home. You said, pet food?"

She slumps a bit, looking angry.

"Yeah, and it tasted terrible! I was starving, almost everyday. I only got to eat the stuff her dog couldn't eat!"

"A dog huh?"

"Yeah… I was scared to death of that thing. It always barked at me, and tried to bite me, and try to eat my tail!"

Curiosity is killing you, and you can't stop asking questions.

"So, how did you come into that household?"

"They found me asleep, outside their house. They had a rat problem, and they thought'd I'd get rid of them… But the truth is… I'm scared to death of rats."

"Do you remember anything about your owner?"

"…"

She doesn't reply.

"I see. That's alright. Sorry to make you go through that."

She smiles.

"It's alright! But, I get to ask you some questions as well!"

You smile, knowing she's happy.

"Ask away, Nepeta."

She thinks for a moment.

"How'd you get to know Dave?"

You shrug, trying to dig up the memory.

"Well… we were friends at school, and I just… I thought he was really cute, and afterschool, we started talking. It seems he wasn't as cold as I thought he was."

She plots her question for a bit.

"So… are you guys in love?"

You blush for a bit.

"Uh… yeah. Just a little bit."

She gives you a glare.

"Uh. A-lot. Yeah… I like him a lot."

Nepeta looks so happy, after you answered that question.

"Is that all, Nepeta?"

She gives you a really smug look.

"For now, Egbert. Just for now."

Wait… something's missing.

SCHOOL.

YOU COMPLETLEY FORGOT ABOUT SCHOOL.

Oh goodness…

You grab your schoolbag, and shove every single one of your books into it.

"Nepeta! Just get in my bag!"

She nods, and jumps in. You zip it up, but not all the way.

Rushing out the door, you run to school in the rain.


	6. Chapter 6

You burst in the doors. You're not actually that late. About 14 minutes too slow. School hasn't started, and you're bloody lucky, because it's just about to. Damn it, you were planning on catching-up with Dave.

All right well, this makes things even more difficult.

Class is about to start, and inside your bag, you have a living, breathing, troll.

The bell rings, and its time for your first class. Just, forget about Nepeta for now. You'll figure something out. I mean, you're John Egbert, the one whom managed to find the courage to ask Dave Strider out, the coolest kid in school.

You feel a small shivering from inside your bag. Poor Nepeta, she must be soaked in water. Your own hair is wet, and sticking to your forehead.

"Don't worry, Nepeta. I'll make sure you stay safe."

You look toward the group, walking toward the English classroom. Your first class.

You carefully place your bag on the ground, hoping that Nepeta doesn't get a gigantic shock. But, when your rather large English teacher comes in, you pick your bag up again.

Can't be too careful, anything could happen.

You watch everybody come in, you hold your schoolbag to your chest, and without noticing, somebody taps you from behind.

You jump, quite high. Spinning around, you see your good friend Jade Harley.

"Hey Egbert!"

"Don't scare me like that!"

"Whoops, my bad."

You roll your eyes."

"What's with the schoolbag?"

"Oh… uh. Nothing."

She gives you an odd look.

"Whatever you say, John."

You smile.

"So, what's up?"

She gives you this gigantic smile, after speaking.

"Oh uh… nothing much. I just got caught in the rain this-morning."

Jade giggles.

"Yepyep! I can see it."

"Oh, my bad."

You feel embarrassed.

She pulls out her phone, it seems to have received a message.

"Ugh, I can't believe it!"

"Believe what?"

"My parents enrolled me in flute lessons! I don't even like the flute that much!"

"Well… it's a good skill, at least. Better than the Piano…"

She looks kinda upset. You decide to leave her to frantically text her parents back.

About 15 minutes into the lesson, you decide it's important to check on little Nepeta. Excusing yourself from class, you take her to the bathroom.

Finally arriving down the other end of the hall, you head into the bathroom, you unzip your schoolbag. You lock the door, so nobody can see you.

Nepeta is inside sitting on one of your books, she looks awefully tired.

"Nepeta… are you alright?"

You keep your voice down, just incase somebody was to walk in.

She rubs her eyes, and looks tiredly at you. Her face is a bit pale.

You lift her out, very carefully, so she can get some fresh air.

"Huh?"

She flicks her little tail.

Well… at she hasn't suffocated.

Your mind is racing after that thought, and you don't know what to do.

You slump down to the ground.

"Nepeta… I'm sorry for getting you into this mess."

For some reason, your eyes seem to be getting teary. What have you done?

Nepeta climbs up on top of your schoolbag.

"John, please… don't cry."

She snuggles into you.

"I just… please. Don't be upset... because of me."

You hold her in your arms.

"It's not your fault, Nepeta… I should've never brought you to school."

"John… it's okay. Really."

Her gentle words seem to put you at ease. She trusts you, why can't you at least return the favor.

"I… need to be a better friend."

She doesn't reply, and instead flicks her small tail, and gets back into your bag.

"Don't worry about me, John."


	7. Chapter 7

It's finally time for lunch break.

It's extremely likely that all of your friends are hanging out on this one playground bench. The four of you have been hogging since middle school.

You've never given this particular bench up for any other group of kids. Rose seems to think of it as something that connects you four as friends.

As you walk upto it, you catch a glimpse of your friends.

Dave and Rose are catching up. You can't see Jade, however.

"John, Hey!"

Rose smiles, and then waves to you.

You head over, quickly.

When you get there, you take a breather.

"Dave I… uh. I haveta tell you something."

Dave raises his eyebrow.

"What is it?"

Rose also raises her eyebrow.

"If you two wanted to make out, you can. You know I'm cool with that sort of thing."

Your face is going a violent shade of red. You feel the heat reach your cheeks.

"No, it's nothing like that! I wouldn't do-"

Dave stops you.

"Please excuse us, Rose."

He stands, and helps you up as well. You grab his hand, and soon after then he two of you head a fair distance away.

"Alright. What do you need?"

You gently take off your schoolbag, and place it on the ground. Unzipping it, you gently take Nepeta out.

Presenting her to Dave, she snuggles into your shirt.

Nepeta is now lying safely in your arms.

For some reason, Dave doesn't look as shocked as you expected, but he still has a sour look on his face.

"Hai, Dave."

He smiles, and then looks to you.

"Egbert, why is our little Nepeta at this very high-school."  
He seems angry.

"It was an accident…"

He gives you a rather screwed up look, and then looks at Nepeta.

Who is giving off a comforting yawn.

"Are you alright, Nepeta?"

She nods at Dave.

"Yeap! John lets me stretch between his classes."

She beams a large smile as she says it.

He sighs.

"Has he been feeding you, at least?"

Shit, food had completely slipped your mind.

"I uh…"

"John. Did you forget to feed Nepeta?"

He sounds a bit stern.

"Oh no, Dave! Don't worry about it! I ate his Peanut Butter sandwich!"

You're so glad to hear that. At least she ate something. You don't even care about the fact that you've got nothing for lunch.

Dave lets off a sigh of relief, and gives Nepeta a little rub on her head.

She softly purrs, which makes him smile.

"Um… Dave?"

He looks up from Nepeta.

"What is it?"

"Are you… mad at me?"

You feel small.

He thinks, and then shakes his head.

"I'm not mad."

Even though he says this, you continue to feel bad.

What if he is mad? You seem to not be able to shake the feeling.

"We should be getting back to Rose."

You slowly help Nepeta back into your schoolbag.

The two of you head back. Rose is texting somebody.

"Are you two quite alright? You seem a bit shaken, John."

Dave fixes his glasses.

"Yeah, he's fine. Aren't you?"

You give off the smallest nod.

Rose moves over on the bench, and makes some space for the both of you to sit down.

You let Dave sit down first, and afterward, he grabs your arm so you sit next to him. Heh, you're so classy.

The three of you start to chat, although you can't really find any words right now.

After a bit, you can see Jade running toward you.

She puffs a bit, when she reaches you.

"I can't believe this! I hate the flute!"

You kind of have to feel sorry for her.

"Jade, are you alright?" You try to sound as reassuring as possible.

"Yeah, I'm alright."

She frumps.

Dave looks at Jade, after that.

"Once you get good at it. That flute will be ten times cooler."

Jade rolls her eyes.

"I guess…"

Rose checks her watch.

"Lunch is almost over, I'm going to head to class. You should come as well, Jade. We've both got math."

Jade nods, and then heads off with Rose.

After the two head off, you subconsciously lean against Dave.

"I'm sorry…"

He looks confused.

"For what?"

"For being so careless…"

You hide your face in his shirt.

"It's alright, Really. As long as Nepeta is alright."

"She's not alright… I should've thought a bit more."

You have no idea why you are subconsciously beating yourself up.

He puts his hand in your hair.

"It's okay."

You feel like crying, and you're doing extremely well hiding your tears.

"You need to get to class, you don't want to be late."

You nod, leaning into him a bit more.

"Yeah, I should."

He kisses the top of your head, and you feel yourself smiling.

You pick yourself up, after that.

"Seeya, Dave."

You walk off, gently hitching your schoolbag evenly on your back.

You pray for the day to be over faster.

Even faster than it does.


	8. Chapter 8

You begin to walk home from school. It's the best part of the have waved goodbye to everybody you know, and they seemed to be happy. Even Jade.

After getting halfway down yourstreet, you see that nobody is around.

Carefully, you slip off your schoolbagand slowly lift little Nepeta up out of it,holding her in your armsinstead of having her sit on top of your schoolbooks.

Nepeta is absolutely silent, except for some occasional quiet snoring. When you look down at her, there's a definite look of fatigue in her eyes. Softly, so as not to give her a fright, you ask her, "Nepeta, are you all right?"

Nepeta rubs her eyes, and nods her head. "I'mgood..." she tells you, yawning.

You smile, relieved that she was okay. For some reason, you're a lot happier than you should be.

After walking with her for a bit, she looks up at you.

"John, are you madat me?" Her squeaky little voice catches your attention.

You look down at Nepeta. "Mad? Why would I be?"

Nepeta stretchesand flicks her tail, wrapping it around herself. "No reason...just a thought."

After a couple more minutes of silence and awkwardly slow steps, you hear small snuffling noises from Nepeta. She has fallen asleep in your arms. _Good timing_, you think to yourself. You've just about reached home.

Getting the keys out of your bag is difficult whilst still holding Nepeta, but you manage anyway. Walking through the door, you remember that your dad is still at work. He has left a blue sticky-note on the fridge, like he usually does.

_Don't touch the cake; have it after the chicken I made. I won't be home until late tonight._

You were never even planning to touch that cake anyway - nor the chicken, for that matter. Youdecide to simply order a pizzaand chuck it on your 'I owe you' list.

After you dump your bag down on the kitchen counter, you tip-toe upstairs, still holding Nepeta, and enter your bedroom. It is dark, but mindful of the sleeping creature in your arms, you keep it that way. Carefully, you slip Nepeta onto your bed.

"Goodnight, little Nepeta," you say softly, petting her head. You silentlygrab your laptop, some crinkled essay papers and your phone's chargeras you close the doorand head downstairs again.

Collecting your bag from the kitchen counter, you launch yourself onto your couch. You open your laptop, watching the internet connect. Checking your phone, you see that Dave has been spamming you with pointless messages. You decide to give him a call.

"Dave?"

"Hey."

"Hey!"

"How's my Nepeta?"

"She's good, I think."

"You think? What's that about?"

"Well, right now, she's asleep."

"Oh, that's cool, I guess."

"So, anyway, Dave. Hey."

"Hey."

"Do you want to come over this weekend?"

"Nah, you come over here."

"What's the difference?"

"Your house is too far away."

"It'll only cost you 2 bucks for a bus ride."

"Come over at around seven or eight, all right? You can stay the night."

"Thanks Dave. That sounds good."

"No problem. I'm gonna head off now, I just need to finish this thing."

"For school?"

"Yeah."

"That's most unlike you, Dave. Did you get in trouble today or something?"

"Doesn't matter, Egbert. I gotta go. Catch you later."

"Wait!"

"What is it?"

"Love ya."

"...Love you."

After he suddenly hangs upon you, you simply chuck your phone aside and then begin on your essay papers. Your science teacher has underestimated your knowledge on radiology.

A couple of hours later, you hear a small: "John!" from upstairs. Getting up quickly, youcall out, "Coming!"

Nepeta seems to be needing you. You run up the stairsand check on your little troll. Nepeta has snuggled into your blankets, clutching them in her hands. "Nepeta. Are you all right?"

She looks petrified.

You sit down beside her on the bed, stroking her head.

"John, who is that?"

You put your arm around her, and she grabs your shirt. "Who's who?"

She looks down, at her little feet. "This weird..._thing_ that I saw."

You're confused. "Wait here a second, Nep." You walk away slowly, and she lets go. You walk over to your desk, where you've left your 'stay-safe' cat plush. You show it to her, and she smiles a bit. After walking back to your bed, you hand It to her. She grabs it and snuggles into it, burying her face in the faux-fur. "Are you sure, you're alright, Nepeta?"

Nepeta doesn't say anything, just snuggles into the plush some more.

"Come on, Nep. What's wrong?"

She looks a bit embarrassed now, and her cheeks are turning an odd shade of red.

"I just...had a bad dream. I don't want to talk about it. Ever."

It shocks you. What a nightmare. "I...okay..." is all you manage to say. She snuggles down into the plush again, and you ruffle up her hair. "You're okay now, right?" you ask her.

"Of course."

You're glad that she is all right once more. "So, Nepeta."

She looks up from cat plush, and with wide eyes, she answers, "Huh?"

"Dave contacted me just before."

"Dave?"

"Yeah, him."

"John, can I tell you something? But you can't tell a soul!"

You nod; she's got you interested. "I promise. What's up?"

"Well. I'm not sure if it's just me, but isn't Dave a bit of a -" She stops suddenly. "Wait, actually, never mind."

"No, tell me." You playfully poke her shoulder.

"Isn't he a bit of an insufferable prick?"

Something broke inside of you. It was probably a little bit of your kokoro. You lie back on your bed, and for some reason, burst out in a fit of giggles.

"John...?" Nepeta looks over you, gets on the top of your chest, and looks down at you.

"Insufferable prick, huh? That's new." Wiping away your tears of laughter, you sit up again.

She jumps back onto the bed. "What's so funny?" She lookscross.

You adjust your glasses. "Heh, yeah. That's Dave, all right. Just another reason why I love him." You close your eyes, but quickly open then again when you hear a small squealing noise.

"Please, more John-Dave!" Nepeta falls back on the bed like you did before, fangirling into her own sunset.


End file.
